2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd on 4 May 2022.
Jack Sargeant
Labour
3. What conversations has the Counsel General had with UK Government counterparts about the ongoing fight for justice of the Hillsborough families? OQ57981
Mick Antoniw
Labour
2:41,
4 May 2022
Well, thank you for your question on this important issue. Before his principled resignation, I corresponded and had regular discussions with Lord Wolfson about a range of serious concerns such as these. We are waiting, once again, for the UK Government to decide who will be the new Minister to lead engagement on justice with the Welsh Government, going forward.
Jack Sargeant
Labour
2:42,
4 May 2022
I'm grateful to the Counsel General for his answer and his longstanding commitment to support the families of the Hillsborough disaster. You know I've raised this issue before that we do need a Hillsborough law now to support the campaign. The Counsel General will also be aware of the, again, recent calls from Labour metro mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram for a Hillsborough law now. Will you take the message to the UK Government to hurry up, make the decision who's going to engage with the Welsh Government on justice, because this is crucially an important piece of legislation? Will you take that message to your counterpart once he or she is named, and ask them not only to support the campaign, but to act now and introduce a Hillsborough law?
Mick Antoniw
Labour
2:43,
4 May 2022
Thank you for that supplementary question, and for raising what is, I think, an important law reform issue. And it's worth perhaps just reminding what the Hillsborough law actually is, under, I suppose, the name of the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, which is referred to as the Hillsborough law. It is about the provision of a charter for families bereaved through public tragedy, legally binding on all public bodies; a duty of candour on public servants; proper participation of bereaved families at inquests, through publicly funded legal representation, and a public advocate to act for the families of the deceased after major incidents.
That, it seems to me, is something that goes to the core of basic justice. I've made the point previously, of course, that, bearing in mind that coroners' courts in Wales are totally publicly funded, they seem to me to be a matter that should be devolved to Wales, and also the provision of proper public funding for representation at inquests. I think it's always been a major weakness and anomaly that that hasn't existed.
No-one should go through the sorts of experiences that the Hillsborough families have been through, the steps they have had to take in order to obtain justice, many of those families devoting important parts of their entire lives, and their families' lives, to obtain that justice. And those aren't the only miscarriages of justices. There are other areas where there have been significant miscarriages; you raised not so long ago the issue of Horizon and the post offices, and, of course, there are a number of deaths that are related to that in itself.
So, the assurance I can give you is that this is something that, when the new Minister is appointed, will be on the agenda of issues that we will raise with him, and I will report back again on the outcome of those discussions.
